First stop for me is upstate New York and among the half dozen folks in that area that I visit, The Shaw Family is one of the first. It is early spring and raining hard. I have no idea what to expect when I knock on the beautiful oak-carved door. Ben Shaw opens it, stretching out one hand to greet me while the other supports 4-month old Andrew on his left hip. Ben has a neatly trimmed beard, twinkling eyes and a wide, warm, welcoming smile. Standing behind him is his wife, Jeannette Shaw and behind her, their eight other children (another on the way). "Welcome, welcome!" Jeannette cries. "Come into our home." While I am there I learn about how they have come to farming, why they have chosen poultry and how it supports their life and, most importantly the lives of their children.

The Shaw Family has a 70-acre poultry farm in Greenwich, New York and around Thanksgiving some of the best turkeys in the area. The rest of the year they can be counted on for scrumptious chickens, ducks, Guinea fowl and rabbits. They have nine children and one on the way.

Ben: We found this place at the right time and for the right price. I quit my high paying corporate job and we began trying to decide how to make a living off of the farm. We ended up choosing pastured poultry because it didn’t take a huge up front investment like milking cows. We also opened up a state certified processing facility so we could sell our poultry to local restaurants and down in the city through "Farm-to-Chef." Thanksgiving is our big time –lots and lots of people come up here to get turkeys. We’ve been doing it for over three years now– our bills are paid and we’re making a living.

Jeannette: We make our living on the poultry but I grow herbs too. We have a bulk food store where I sell all kinds of culinary and medicinal herbs. This is one of our favorite recipes: